Virtuoso - I couldn't agree more...

2/13/11 – Virtuoso (Joe Pass)

Jazz is an intensified feeling of nonchalance.
- Françoise Sagan

            Aside from the piano, there are very few instruments capable of carrying an entire album unaccompanied and without dubbing multiple tracks.  The guitar comes close more often than most, but hardly ever to this level of success.  Joe Pass’ album Virtuoso is a tremendous display of… well, virtuosity, elevating the guitar as complete instrument to new level.  From the opening notes of “Night and Day” through the final tones of “The Song is You,”  Pass’ unadulterated, unprocessed solo guitar is the only thing you hear, carrying melodies, accompaniment, bass lines, and countermelodies with uncanny ease.  His guitar sings expressively and bops hard like a sax at other times, but is always a complete package on the melodious ballads and uptempo swings as well.

            Not having the huge jazz repertoire (yet,) I occasionally get lost in some of the pieces – perhaps the sole casualty of the unaccompanied opus.  While things like harmonies and bass tones aren’t constantly necessary, their occasional absence leaves the occasional hole.  Naturally, I find this more noticeable on tunes I don’t know as well, such as “Stella By Starlight” and “My Old Flame.”  The more familiar tunes I’m more apt to mentally “fill in” with my inner ear.  On that note, this is most definitely worth giving another listen to at the end of this project once my library of jazz works is more complete.

            While it’s difficult to distinguish where some of the “tune” ends and the solo begins, Pass’ machine gun precise technique is present throughout.  Specifically, his rendition of “How High the Moon” is a tremendous display of both artistic musicianship and masterful technical performance.  Likewise, the burning opening to “Cherokee” is a testament to the skill and artistry of this phenomenal performer.  “Sweet Loraine” may take the prize as the top ballad of the recording

I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but there’s not much else to say.  There are no great variations in timbre and texture, nor significant texts to examine.  Just a master of his art and his instrument.  Not that I mind – I prefer unaccompanied Pass to Django’s stylings by far – there’s just not much to discuss.  Reading a bit about Joe’s musical background, there are a few things that particularly ring true to me – take for example the idea of filling time; using the space between melodic notes to fill out the chords and create counterlines.  Growing up as I began to improvise, I used to do something similar – challenge myself to keep a constant stream of sixteenth notes going so there was a sense of constant motion.  Mind you, I wasn’t even into my teenage years yet, so the result didn’t compare at all to what Pass accomplishes here, but the same idea was there.  (I also wonder if that put him into a “does not play well with others” category… I find that while I worked so hard to be self-sufficient, I still to this day have trouble playing in ensembles because I instinctively want to do it all and cover the bass line and as a result end up angering the bassist, fill out all the harmonies and irritate guitarists, double melodies and get in the way of the lead.  Drummers I’m normally fine with. J )

Tomorrow – Beethoven: Symphony #3 “Eroica”

Next week – The Birth of the Cool (Miles Davis)